章節 18: A King and His Queen Part 10
Dawei POV
With more might and desperation than I've ever commanded before, I punched through Xiaochen's damn barrier almost robotically, desperately commanding her to let it down at once. But she didn't dare listen to me, instead fighting Mira violently. Watching them from the sidelines as they tore into each other like rabid animals made me think about Mori Jin. Is this how he felt during Ragnorak?
Feeling so close to the people you love that you can taste it, wanting to protect them knowing you can make a difference while they die screaming for your name? If so, it was almost no wonder why he decided to give it all up at the end, especially when he had a front-row seat like me.
Similar to fire amongst a harsh blizzard, joyful memories with Xiaochen flashed before me, times that helped me through loneliness that consumed half my life. However, now that I'm seeing the women I love get cut piece by piece, that same fire made me feel even worse. As if I would rather have never experienced it in the first place. Which naturally made waves of regret spread through me like a virus while peppering my thoughts insistently.
"Why couldn't I stop Mira? Why the hell is she stopping me? Why can't I just save both of them? Why can't !-,"
My string of thoughts got interrupted quickly as my world instantly fell apart in one distressing image. After expending most of her energy, Xiaochen returned partially to her human form before saying.
"Please don't look Dae-"
Mira didn't even let her finish her sentence, as she killed her ruthlessly using a chilling combination of the National Treasure, one hundred and eight agonies, plus the Blade of Tagahata. Xiaochen's bloodied and proliferated corpse in an instant with her sobbing head detached from her body. The horrifying image quickly turned rising panic into a freezing numbness.
History seemed to repeat itself right in front of my eyes as flashes of Mori Hui and Woo Seungtae mixed in with those of Xiaochen. These three spent all of their last moments protecting me to the very end as if my life meant more than theirs, thus leaving me with nothing then one brutal question.
Why can't I ever be strong enough to protect those that I love?"
However, unlike the other questions, I finally managed to get an answer that made way too much sense.
"It's because you're incomplete," an elderly voice said.
From the back of my left ear, I recognized the voice almost instinctively as in seconds, it started to morph into the astral form of the King. The ancient god looked at me with an almost nostalgically devilish smile and stated with his arcane red eyes.
"All this time, you have been a King who's willingly decided to live like a peasant. You've limited yourself from the very beginning," he said firmly.
On my right side, a second figure emerged, solidifying even further until the man became so real that I swear I could touch him. That man, in particular, being the wildcard of Ragnarok: Commissioner R. With those same red eyes, the former ally and enemy looked towards me and said.
"He's right, you know. The reason why Mira is above you is simple. You both have half the King's powers, and you both fight to protect, but you have never sacrificed as much as she has. You don't have her hunger and greed," he said as his eyes started going black.
Bit by bit, my surroundings started to fade into a black ether. Xiaochen's mystical barrier changed into oppressive chains with King and R saying together.
"Take the body. Become complete. Devour the girl and become even stronger. Then, surpass me and take your place as the reborn King of Humans!!!"
Phrases of that nature stormed my mind until they blurred together, only leaving me with the chains that restricted my every movement. I look back at all my life has given me by following the path I've always had—the one where I prioritized power, purpose, and responsibility above even my own life. And as I saw nothing but the bodies of old friends littered around me, I made my choice.
In one fell swoop, I broke through every chain in front of me, abandoning all compassion, promise, and love. The barrier shattered like fragile glass at once, revealing my new form to the world above. Strands of red hair managed to fringe in front of me as the Robe of the Sage became an entirely different item. I had developed it as defensive armor all this time, never realizing it could also be a deadly weapon.
Before Mira could even react, I hit her in the gut with blinding speed and primal ferocity. The force alone made the entire country quake. Mira coughed up loads of spit and blood, completely buckling under the weight of my fist. Nevertheless, she persisted in using the Wolfgang step technique to try and outflank me. However, I already predicted it using the Dance of the White Tiger while applying inertia and repulsive forces to counter her counter.
Try as she might Mira tried to defend against my offensive onslaught but every deflection and parry still sent enough force that shook her perfect stance. Meaning that in this vital moment I used gravity once again using gravity to manipulate friction just a little. For the King's body the blow meant nothing but at this leverage, combined with my limited control over the Blade of Tagatha to slip it out of her hands and equip it.
That vital moment was all I needed to finally finish seventeen years of struggle, tragedy, and stalemating. Without even missing a beat Mira tried to use the one hundred and eight agonies to try and stop me, but the relics of Hallyang Seo meant nothing to my new armament, breaking them all to smithereens. Still, it gave Mira enough time to summon her final weapon, the one that we share the most history with: Bongseon.
Our two blades gave out a titanical clash, one that split a large crevasse across all of New Korea. And in it I was the clear victor, breaking through the sword and leaving her utterly defenseless. I thought at this moment I would have had a small hint of mercy, looking at what used to be one of the two friends I had in this world.
But I didn't see her anymore. Maybe she was already gone, or a mad dog that would've wanted to get put down long ago. So using a combination of weak force and the Blade, I twist off Mira's right arm, using that as the catalyst to absorb the powerful King's body. And as I felt my body change and mutate even further, morphing myself into something that I didn't recognize. With the fatigue of the battle taking its toll, I laid beneath my two loves corpses. Wondering what was even the point of all this fighting, if I had no one else to come back to now.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票